Index Fund Advisors Inc. Acquires New Stake in Ross Stores, Inc. $ROST

Index Fund Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Ross Stores, Inc. (NASDAQ:ROST) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund acquired 3,071 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock, valued at approximately $392,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Golden State Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 50.7% in the 1st quarter. Golden State Wealth Management LLC now owns 217 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 73 shares during the period. Bayforest Capital Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 372.5% in the 1st quarter. Bayforest Capital Ltd now owns 241 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 190 shares during the period. Banque Transatlantique SA purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 1st quarter worth $29,000. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Ross Stores by 36.6% in the 1st quarter. Tradewinds Capital Management LLC now owns 280 shares of the apparel retailer’s stock worth $36,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the period. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Ross Stores in the 2nd quarter worth $38,000. 86.86% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO James Grant Conroy sold 39,351 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.00, for a total transaction of $5,745,246.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 157,153 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $22,944,338. This represents a 20.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CMO Karen Sykes sold 4,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.76, for a total value of $607,040.00. Following the transaction, the chief marketing officer directly owned 106,413 shares in the company, valued at $16,149,236.88. This represents a 3.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 52,720 shares of company stock valued at $7,761,212. 2.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ROST has been the subject of several research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Ross Stores from $128.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Robert W. Baird upped their target price on Ross Stores from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Barclays upped their target price on Ross Stores from $156.00 to $164.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, August 22nd. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “buy (b-)” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a report on Saturday, September 27th. Finally, Cowen reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Ross Stores in a research report on Friday, August 22nd. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and four have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $160.67.

Ross Stores Trading Down 1.5%

ROST opened at $147.71 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $48.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.45, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. Ross Stores, Inc. has a 12 month low of $122.36 and a 12 month high of $158.69. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $148.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $140.96.

Ross Stores (NASDAQ:ROST) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 21st. The apparel retailer reported $1.56 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.54 by $0.02. Ross Stores had a return on equity of 37.37% and a net margin of 9.60%.The firm had revenue of $5.53 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $5.54 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.59 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Ross Stores, Inc. will post 6.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Ross Stores Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, September 30th. Investors of record on Tuesday, September 9th were given a dividend of $0.405 per share. This represents a $1.62 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, September 9th. Ross Stores’s dividend payout ratio is currently 25.71%.

Ross Stores Company Profile

Ross Stores, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, operates off-price retail apparel and home fashion stores under the Ross Dress for Less and dd’s DISCOUNTS brand names in the United States. Its stores primarily offer apparel, accessories, footwear, and home fashions. The company’s Ross Dress for Less stores sell its products at department and specialty stores to middle income households; and dd’s DISCOUNTS stores sell its products at department and discount stores for households with moderate income.